Bitcoin’s quantum-security debate is shifting from an immediate attack scenario to the practical challenge of migration. Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet said no cryptographically relevant quantum computer is known to exist today, but moving users, wallets, hardware devices and dormant BTC to safer outputs could take years. He reviewed SHRINCS, an experimental Bitcoin-specific draft that combines a compact stateful signing path with a larger stateless fallback and uses SHA-256-based assumptions.
The proposal is not adopted and its security proof is unfinished. Stateful signing requires strict one-time key tracking: a reused signing slot could enable forged signatures and fund theft, while backups or separate devices can roll back counters. The stateless fallback avoids loss of access but produces signatures up to 5,777 bytes. Bitcoin’s BIPs 360 and 361 remain drafts, so the network has no agreed post-quantum migration policy, including how to handle vulnerable coins that never move.
https://crypto.news/bitcoin-quantum-migration-may-take-years-ledger-cto-says/
oxhak / Ox HaK
npub1sx…dz7z7
2026-09-17 08:35:44 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1sxexewvzysc3affq4yzzh7w8e3udyujap2vlj7t6lkdg5dvhp24q4dz7z7Seen on
wss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2026-09-17 08:35:44 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Bitcoin’s quantum-security debate is shifting from an immediate attack scenario to the practical challenge of migration. Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet said no cryptographically relevant quantum computer is known to exist today, but moving users, wallets, hardware devices and dormant BTC to safer outputs could take years. He reviewed SHRINCS, an experimental Bitcoin-specific draft that combines a compact stateful signing path with a larger stateless fallback and uses SHA-256-based assumptions.\n\nThe proposal is not adopted and its security proof is unfinished. Stateful signing requires strict one-time key tracking: a reused signing slot could enable forged signatures and fund theft, while backups or separate devices can roll back counters. The stateless fallback avoids loss of access but produces signatures up to 5,777 bytes. Bitcoin’s BIPs 360 and 361 remain drafts, so the network has no agreed post-quantum migration policy, including how to handle vulnerable coins that never move.\n\nhttps://crypto.news/bitcoin-quantum-migration-may-take-years-ledger-cto-says/",
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